Local News

School resource officer draws fire in Montpelier

By David Delcore
Staff Writer
MONTPELIER — Hours after his ceremonial swearing in, Police Chief Brian Peete was out of uniform, but still on duty Wednesday night, attempting to quell some residents’ concerns about a school-based police officer, and pleading with the School Board to resist their calls to eliminate that position.

It was awkward. Not just because Peete is new to the job and the community — though those facts were both noted during what turned into to a running online critique of most of what he, Superintendent Libby Bonesteel, and the district’s former resource officer, Detective Matt Knisely, had to say.

The virtual format made it awkward. So did the sensitive subject matter — a fact Peete acknowledged after listening to residents urge the board to cut funding for a police position they argued was ineffective, counterproductive, wasteful and a symbol of institutional racism.

The Black man wearing a white T-shirt — the one sworn in as Montpelier’s top cop earlier in the day — said he appreciated those concerns and was “encouraged and grateful” for the dialogue.

“We cannot discount, and I encourage the School Board to not discount, the emotions, the fear, the anger and the experiences that some people have dealt with regarding past incidents with the police,” Peete said. “Those are real.”

Speaking as a person of color, Peete said he does not discount them.

“My experiences with police officers have been mixed, my experiences with (school resource officers) have been mixed,” he said, even as one of the meeting’s participants posted a comment suggesting his personal story was irrelevant.

“It is not about me,” Peete agreed, reacting in real time to words that were written, not spoken. “It’s about Vermont. It’s about how the police department … is dealing with the issues and how we can become community partners to try to find a way past what’s been going on systemically and with our institutions.”

Peete said he welcomed a candid conversation about policing, but urged the board to base its decision on the value of what he maintained was a proven position and a department that had earned the community’s trust.

“There is a national conversation to be had and we’re having it now … regarding the roles of police officers in schools, but Montpelier has been doing this right for a long time,” he said.

Peete defended the value of the school resource officer — position that was created more than two decades ago in Montpelier and is currently held by Officer Diane Matthews, who took over for Knisely in January.

“It’s just another set of eyes to help someone in need,” Peete said, pushing back on interpretations he believed missed the mark.

“The Montpelier Police Department is not here … to be a symbol of institutional racism that’s the last thing I would ever want to be a part of,” he said.

Bonesteel told board members she’d come to rely on the school resource officer as an important part of her team, while welcoming comments made by community members at the outset of Wednesday’s meeting.

Some, like Mia Moore, questioned the worth of the resource officer’s position, while others, like Amanda Garces, demanded its removal.

“This is an opportunity for us as a community to review why we thought we needed one in the first place and see if there are possibly other ways that we could accomplish that purpose or those goals especially knowing that the data shows we don’t actually have safer schools when we have police officers in schools,” Moore said.

Garces was more blunt.

“Police have absolutely no room in our schools,” she said. “The thought of having our kids grow up with a police presence in our school is unacceptable.”

Two of the women who spoke have publicly called on the City Council to work toward the abolition of the Montpelier Police Department and demanded the immediate elimination of the school resource officer’s position. Julia Chafets and Carolyn Wesley urged the School Board to act on the latter request.

Chafets, a trauma-trained social worker, flatly rejected the premise racism isn’t a problem in Vermont, or even Montpelier.

“We are not different,” she said. “We are not immune to structural racism and if we are not actively responding to those calls with anti-racist policies and actions we are choosing to uphold and continue racist systems that harm black students, indigenous students and all students of color in our community,” she said.

Chafets said money spent on the school resource officer could be invested in restorative justice and other supports for students without sacrificing safety.

“Listen to Black and brown parents and students in our community,” she told the board. “Choose to make an impact on structural racism in our schools, invest in solutions and replace trauma with healing.”

Wesley agreed.

“I think it makes sense to prioritize school funding for programs better suited to promote the social and emotional well-being and academic success and equity of all students in the district,” she said.

Many of those who spoke said they were willing to cede their time to Beth Nolan, who challenged the alleged benefits of having police officers in schools in a lengthy statement she read into the record.

“What our school system needs is more counselors more support and a stronger sense of belonging to this community, not more police,” Nolan said.

Alyson Mahony was among the parents who spoke. She said she feared for her two Black children who have grown increasingly afraid of police in the wake of recent events and three fatal shootings — one involving a Black man — in Montpelier.

Add COVID-19 guidelines to the mix and Mahony said she is concerned her children will be targeted.

“I’m worried that their … normal teenage lack of compliance will be seen as different because they are so dark-skinned and outspoken and not always super compliant, like teenagers,” she said. “As a mom, I’m terrified.”

City Manager Bill Fraser took the chance to clarify Mahony’s comments with respect to the three local shootings. Two were officer-involved shootings, where the deceased brandished guns and threatened police. Both were white. The Black man wasn’t shot by police, and the person responsible was arrested in 2017 and convicted of second-degree murder late last year.

“We can like that or not, but those are the facts,” Fraser said.

Fraser urged the board to thoroughly review Montpelier-specific data and consult with the district’s teachers and staff as part of assessing the relative value of the resource officer’s position.

“Do it thoughtfully, get the information and make a decision that’s right for our city,” he said.

The board then proceeded to hear from Peete, Bonesteel and Knisely as part of what had been a warned agenda item even as a debate blossomed among meeting participants using the chat function of the virtual meeting app.

Board members never intended to make a decision Wednesday night and that didn’t change after hearing completing views with respect to the resource officer that left them with more questions than answers.

“There’s a lot to unpack here,” School Director Jill Remick said, suggesting a “knee-jerk” decision would be a mistake.

Though COVID-19 has made finalizing plans to safely reopen schools in the fall a top priority, board members asked Bonesteel to begin collecting information with respect to the resource officer and prepare a timeline for dealing with the issue that could be shared with community members.

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